Celebrity Trainer Talks Tough

Fitness expert and entrepreneur Tracy Anderson, sits down with NEW YOU to offer insight on diet, exercise, and how to avoid packing on the pounds this season.

By: Samantha Boden

NEW YOU: What are the biggest misconceptions women have about working out?

Tracy Anderson: There are several. I think that the biggest misconceptions women have is that they can not get the body they want even if they work out or that they can only get the body they want through dieting. Those assumptions simply are not true.

NY: A lot of people have a mental block that says they can’t reach their weight loss and fitness goals. How would you encourage women to overcome that block?

TA: They need to focus. They need to exercise five to seven days a week. They need to pick one program. I would pick one that is customized and stick to it. They should make sure that they have an at-home workout option, so that meeting fitness goals does not rely on gym access. Workouts should always be accessible.

NY: What’s your go-to snack?

TA: I’m not really a snacker, but if I were going to snack I would choose a hunk of chocolate. You want something satisfying. You need to give your body what it wants because the worst thing you can do is grab a healthy snack and not be satisfied. For example, a 100-calorie pack, is filled with nothing but a bunch of ingredients that cause inflammation in the body. Mentally you think you only ate 100 calories, but because of the way your body processes those snacks, it is not going to let you lose weight. The 100-calorie snack packs are the worst.

NY: The holiday season is fast approaching. What tips you can offer to help people avoid the associated weight gain?

TA: Exercise: Holiday season is not a time to take off from your exercise routine. It’s OK to take Christmas Day or Thanksgiving Day off, but I wouldn’t take the day before and after off. You need to exercise and definitely not think oh it’s the holidays so I’m going to let loose and just gorge and gorge. Don’t plan to diet before and after and gorge during because then you’re just going to overeat. Give yourself the freedom to enjoy the holiday meals—that’s something I really believe in. It’s all about balance. On the actual holiday, enjoy things that you emotionally love, but all of the days around it, be mindful of the things you’re putting in your body.

NY: We hear all the time that in order to lose weight, we have to cut out a certain food group. What kind of diet do you recommend?

TA: The worst thing that you can do is listen to people who are telling you to cut out entire food groups to be on a diet. To truly lose weight and function at your most heightened level, you need to know yourself and know your allergies. You could be allergic to blueberries and not even know they are causing inflammation. It’s not about dairy being the enemy, or wheat being the enemy, or meat being the enemy because for every single person it’s different. Our bodies are highly sophisticated and highly unique. Diets often fall short because they do not offer the right ratio of protein to fat to nutrients.

NY: What’s your take on women doing 30 to 45 minutes of cardio (elliptical, bike) daily and then calling it a day?

TA: Women definitely need to be educated that things like the elliptical machine are never ever going to give them the body they want.. We actually have so much power over the weaknesses that we are given, but we cannot overcome them by only going to the gym, hopping on a machine, and using it over and over in the same way. You will burn calories, you will increase endurance, you will get benefits from it, but you need other sources of exercise. That’s why I put out a product like Metamorphosis where you can be at home. I’m not a fan of people paying money for gym memberships and going on random machines because I know what’s possible with the body and I know the potential.

Tracy Anderson’s Metamorphosis DVD program is available starting November 15th, sold exclusively at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

 

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